Hobbies. That’s an interesting topic. We all have hobbies—pleasurable
ways to spend time. I do garden and knit and spin yarn from various fibers:
sheep, angora, mohair, and—lately—alpaca. I even create little bears out of old
fur coats found in antique shops. All of those things definitely fit into my
life as hobbies. But, I’d probably have to say puzzles are at the top of my killer
hobby list. Not necessarily the visual type we buy in the store, which I do
enjoy, but a “search and assemble” type of puzzle.

My favorite puzzling hobby begins with puttering around
libraries and book stores searching for and reading through books on
traditional China. I love stumbling upon odd bits of information, or even great
chunks of information, about something I had no previous idea about. This is
especially true when I find that the new bit fits together nicely with another
piece of information which had been sitting in the back of my mind. That’s why
I compare myself to a magpie—a bird that delights in collecting seemingly odd
bits of unrelated items. And, it’s probably why I like and write historic mysteries
and adventures set in ancient China: they are puzzles requiring me to pull
together apparently random pieces to create a whole picture for the reader.

In Hidden, the
first novel in my ancient China series for young adults, Mei-hua, our
protagonist lives in the year 1380 and is the daughter of a magistrate, a high
level government official. When danger threatens her father, he sends Mei-hua
away to a friend in order to protect her from his enemies. Unfortunately, as
she flees her home she is kidnapped and sold as a lowly indentured servant to
another wealthy family. Without friends or family Mei-hua finds herself on her
own and in desperate straits. She has to come to terms with her new situation
and at the same time, seek out her father’s friend without alerting her
father’s enemies.

My puttering lead me through academic books, movies,
fiction, paintings, etc. I found all kinds of details about travel, clothing,
language, to name a few. For example, I found minutiae on what kind of home a
wealthy family had and how they dressed, compared to a middle class or poor family.
My search included how and what people ate and the dishes they used. And, of
course, I wanted to know what kind of hobbies they had—how they spent their leisure time.

In Warned, the
second novel in the series, my puzzling took me in another direction. I needed
to find out about the details of ancient Chinese medicine: about the informally
trained folk doctors and imperially trained doctors, about medicinal herbs,
about people’s beliefs as to why and how of illnesses, and even about the role
of spiritual beliefs in how people understood illnesses and cures.

In the end, I find puzzles to be wonderful and lots of fun,
whether they are the commercial, store bought pictures cut into tiny, irregular
pieces or the “search and assemble” type of historical fiction.

Author P.A. De Voe is a cultural anthropologist, which accounts for
her being an incorrigible magpie for collecting seemingly irrelevant
information. She writes contemporary and historical mysteries and crime
stories. Hidden, the first in her
young adult ancient China trilogy is available on Amazon as an ebook or
paperback. Lotus Shoes, a short
story prequel to the Mei-hua trilogy, is also available on Amazon. Warned, the second in the trilogy, will
be available in September, 2015. To read a free Judge Lu case files from the Ming Dynasty—historical short stories
for adults—visit padevoe.com.